Why not?
by No Good Names Are Left
Summary: A story about a younger brother having to step up to the mantle while his older brother is busy. Bowser has a serious plan, and the whole kingdom is at stake... Shall evil prevail?


Toadsworth stood with his hands behind his back, staring dejectedly at the gloomy outside sky. It was not a good day in anyone's books, most certainly not one in the white mustached toad's. It wasn't raining, it was just gloomy and cold outside, and with the wind howling fiercely and making the trees shake and reiterate to everyone that a harsh storm was just around the corner.

He sighed, Princess Peach was recently abducted yet again, and once more Mario was sent to go through Bowser's forces to save her and stop whatever the Koopa King's latest plan was. Stealing the Princess was terrible, yes, but then the old toad had to deal with gathering up others to rebuild the massive hole that was left behind from Bowser's explosive entrance… It gave him a headache, and then this sudden storm arrived and then he began worrying about the main hall becoming flooded… Thankfully it was explained to him that precautions were being made to prevent that, but it still troubled him that there was a gaping hole in the castle's ceiling.

It bothered him that his people couldn't protect their own Princess at all and that they had to rely on Mario, but he understood that his people weren't fighters, and just didn't have the will to fight in such a way… Still, this was the last straw and he had taken measures to prevent this from happening again, setting up a small group of dedicated toads that he dubbed 'Scouts' he set up small little outposts across the kingdom to be on the lookout for any type of threat to the kingdom or the princess.

Already the group had warned every one of the massive storm rather quickly, and Toadsworth was already questioning why he hadn't done this before. While they weren't an official army, it was the closest they had to one, and it was the first steps he was taking to making everything safer.

Still, it bothered him at how long it took him to set up something to help protect them… He heard the door behind him open, and he turned slightly. His study was a quiet place, it was his retreat from everywhere and everyone else, so if someone was here it was obviously for a good reason.

A red toad stepped into the room with a rather large frown, fear in his voice and eyes. "Toadsworth, i-it's terrible!"

"Oh, oh no! Please do say that the hole in the main room is really going to be alright in the storm!"

"It's worse than that!"

Toadsworth's eyes widened and he quickly rushed forward to grab onto the other toad's shoulders and shake him violently. "Please! Please don't tell me that Mario has failed my boy! Oh, the madness that shall befall our kingdom if our savior, our true hero, has failed us and our beautiful Princess Toadstool has remained in the clutches of evil! Oh the horror that shall be-"

The toad managed to cut the man off, his voice still as frightened as before, but now even more so after the outburst that their leader, while the princess was gone, had just produced after thinking of the what if's… "No! It's worse than that, B-Bowser has a large air fleet coming straight for us from the desert region, the Scouts just reported it in!"

Silence fell between the two as the old man began to realize what was just told to him, after a few moments, Toadsworth let go of the other man and wandered over to his big chair by his desk, slumping in it wordlessly. Mario had left in the direction of the plains, it was from their Bowser's main invasion force was… Or so they thought, this bit of news that the toad had just told him seemed to change that entirely. What could they do? Their best fighter was gone, as was their real leader; no one else could fight in their kingdom… The setting up of the Scouts was something that he was silently cursing at the moment, now he knew of his demise, and there was nothing he could do about it… He would've rather this news be told to him by his own eyes at the last few moments of the kingdom's freedom before the invasion force swooped in and everyone was enslaved…

"..S-Sir?" The red toad's voice snapped Toadsworth out of his thoughts, making him stare towards the toad, he wasn't all there, he was still shell shocked from the news and it showed in his voice.

"Mmhm? What is it old chap?"

"Well… What… What should we do?"

That was a good question, one that he didn't really have an answer for. Closing his eyes, Toadsworth let out another sigh and turned his head back towards the window, starting to hear the sound of rain hitting the window outside. "I… I don't know. None of us can fight…"

Another few moments passed with tense silence, before the toad's sad voice once more was heard. "What about the other Mario brother..?"

It took a minute for Toadsworth to figure out what the red toad had said to him, before he realized that there was a small glimmer of hope.

. . .

But it was a small one.

Luigi, Mario's younger brother. The green plumber was an accident prone nightmare that had indeed helped on a few of Mario's rescue missions and adventures… He was sometimes invited to the castle's parties and special events, but he had never left a lasting impression on Toadsworth. He was always, just… There.

However, It truly was their kingdoms only chance at surviving. "Hmmmm… Old bean, have you told anyone else this news?"

The red toad shook his head quickly. "No! Other than the Scouts and me, you're the only one who knows! I'll go an-"

"Perhaps we should keep it like that." Toadsworth closed his eyes again, playing with his moustache to put his mind on ease a little, as well as ignore the shocked toad. "It's best that we keep this our little secret, everyone is on edge as it is with the Princess gone. But we certainly don't need a mass panic, yet. I want you to go and get me Luigi, we're going to need him to save us."

The stunned toad could only nod slowly at Toadsworth, fumbling back around and going out of the door he had come through initially, going off to follow the orders he was given…

It was a longshot, but this was all they had...

* * *

**Yes, this will be updated with a much longer chapter soon. Please, express your thoughts on my work so I can improve. :)**


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